


I Could Not Travel Both

by AuthorToBeNamedLater



Series: Keeping Up With The Raptors [27]
Category: No Fandom, Original Work
Genre: 2014 Winter Olympics, Alternate Universe - Hockey, Alternate Universe - Sports, Family, Gen, Hockey, Raptors, Seattle, Sports
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-17
Updated: 2014-06-17
Packaged: 2018-02-05 02:56:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1802779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AuthorToBeNamedLater/pseuds/AuthorToBeNamedLater
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Something of a tag to "A Magic Spark." Won't make much sense unless you read that first.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Could Not Travel Both

**Author's Note:**

> This didn't fit anywhere within my little universe, but it wouldn't go away. So I wrote it.
> 
> Title is from "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost.

“Mom? Can I ask you something?”

Katie Sheridan looked up from the couch where she was patting Gretzky. The German Shepherd's ears perked up when Katie's attention shifted. “Of course, Donna.”

“Do you ever wish you'd gone to Nagano?”

“No,” Katie answered honestly.

“You could have had a gold medal,” Donna pointed out.

“Don't think I don't know that.” Katie stroked her hand down Gretzky's back. “I gave it some serious thought. But you and Ashley were so little and your dad was gone so much. It would have been impossible.”

“Hayley Wickenheiser has a kid,” Donna said, referring to the captain of the Canadian women's national team. “She's played since women's hockey became a big thing.”

“I know, but would you have wanted that?” Katie asked. “Would you have wanted to stay with nannies and babysitters while I gallivanted around the world playing in tournaments?”

“Not really,” Donna admitted.

“Did you know your dad offered to take a year off from playing so I could go to Nagano?” Katie asked.

Donna's jaw dropped. “What? You're kidding.”

Katie shook her head. “I had to talk him out of it.”

“Why? Why didn't you let him?”

“Because I would have missed you!” Katie exclaimed. “I loved that time with you and Ashley when you were so young. I loved playing with you and reading to you, watching your first steps and hearing your first words. It seemed like every day you would change and you grew so fast. I didn't want to miss that. I knew USA Hockey could find someone else to play bottom-six right wing, but you and your sister weren't going to find another mommy.”

“You would have been a top-six,” Donna said with confidence.

“Irrelevant,” Katie responded. “My point is I just couldn't imagine walking away from you two and your father for a year.”

“You didn't want a break from us?”

“To go sprint from blue line to blue line to red line to blue line four hours a day? No thank you.” Katie smiled at her daughter. “You were so much more important to me than hockey, Donna. And there's a lot more to life than gold medals.”

Donna's eyes flicked to the mantel where Hank's silver medal from 2002 sat. “I know. I know. I just can't imagine giving up a chance to go to the Olympics.”

“We can revisit this conversation when you have children,” Katie said with a smile. “Of course I would have loved to win a gold medal in the Olympics, sweetheart. But it wouldn't have been worth it.”

Donna mulled over that for a bit. “You're probably right.”

“I am _definitely_ right,” Katie corrected. “I wish I could have gone. But I don't regret that I couldn't. There's a difference.”

 


End file.
